Chronic heart failure is one of the most frequent causes of death in humans. Knockout of type 5 adenylyl cyclase (AC) in mice causes longevity and protection from cardiomyopathy, and an AC5 inhibitor reduces -adrenoceptor-stimulated Ca 2ϩ inward currents in isolated mouse cardiomyocytes. These data indicate that selective AC5 inhibitors may be beneficial in chronic heart failure. Therefore, we characterized AC in mouse heart membranes. Real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunoblot analysis suggested that AC5 is an important heart AC isoform. Enzyme kinetics of heart AC and recombinant AC5 in the presence of Mg 2ϩ were similar. Moreover, the inhibitory profile of eight 2Ј(3Ј)-O-(N-methylanthraniloyl) (MANT)-nucleoside 5Ј-([␥-thio])triphosphates on mouse heart in the presence of Mg 2ϩ was almost identical to that of AC5. MANT-ITP was the most potent inhibitor of heart AC and recombinant AC5, with K i values in the 15 to 25 nM range in the presence of Mg 2ϩ and in the 1 to 5 nM range in the presence of Mn 2ϩ . However, in the presence of Mn 2ϩ , we also noted differences between mouse heart AC and AC5 with respect to enzyme kinetics and forskolin analog effects. In conclusion, with regard to expression and kinetics and inhibition by MANT-nucleotides in the presence of Mg 2ϩ , AC5 is an important AC isoform in heart, with MANT-ITP being an excellent starting point for the design of AC5-selective inhibitors. Unfortunately, a limitation of our study is the fact that immunologically and biochemically, AC5 and AC6 are quite similar, although they have different roles in heart. Moreover, lack of antibody specificity and Mn 2ϩ masking AC5 effects were problems.